I think what your home inspector meant was to plant things that grow in wet soils and that will help keep the soil as dry as possible near the foundation. Keep in mind, though, that these plants will need to be watered regularly, which might also compromise your foundation unless the plants are 3-4' away from the foundation. Did he mention installing a curtain drain? This, along with sloping the earth away from the foundation will also help. If you slope the soil down from the foundation and set a curtain drain at the bottom of the slope, you should effectively redirect water away from the foundation. Then you can plant some of the following plants and your foundation should remain dry: